Few poker players achieve star status, the type of celebrity that makes the throng of amateurs that descend on the World Series of Poker every year ask them for autographs and photos in the halls of the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas.
But it’s the truly rare player who becomes a poker legend, their names synonymous with the game. They’re usually identified on a one-name basis: Doyle, Stuey, Chan, Daniel, Ivey, Phil. It’s the upper echelons of poker immortality, reserved only for those who have a record of stunning achievement.
There is now a new name among them, a man popularly known simply as “The Grinder.” Michael Mizrachi, already a seven-time WSOP bracelet winner, four-time Poker Players champion, and 2010 WSOP Main Event finalist, elevated himself to a new pantheon today after a dominating performance at the 2025 WSOP Main Event final table.
It took only 79 hands, 20 of them on the final day, for Mizrachi to emerge as the new world champion, his turned flush besting the two pair of John Wasnock as “The Grinder” secured the title and $10,000,000 top prize.
2025 Main Event Final Table results
| Rank | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Mizrachi | United States | $10,000,000 |
| 2 | John Wasnock | United States | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | Braxton Dunaway | United States | $4,000,000 |
| 4 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | $3,000,000 |
| 5 | Luka Bojovic | Serbia | $2,400,000 |
| 6 | Adam Hendrix | United States | $1,900,000 |
| 7 | Leo Margets | Spain | $1,500,000 |
| 8 | Jarod Minghini | United States | $1,250,000 |
| 9 | Daehyung Lee | South Korea | $1,000,000 |
“It was a crazy hand. I think, after all these days, I couldn’t even see the cards. I thought he had the ace of clubs, then I thought he was drawing dead. And then they said, no, no, he has two pair. I didn’t even realize that,” Mizrachi said, the diamond-encrusted Main Event bracelet around his wrist after conquering the 9,735-player field.
“I thought he was drawing dead. I thought maybe he just had a nine. I was just blacked out at that point. I knew I was winning.”
When the WSOP released the nominees for this year's Poker Hall of Fame inductee earlier this summer, Mizrachi's name was conspicuously absent. But he then did the unthinkable when he won the $50,000 PPC for an unprecedented fourth time, seemingly making his induction next year a mere formality.
Then he entered the Main Event, took the chip lead back on his Day 1 flight, came back from two big blinds on Day 8, then hit a three-outer on the river to double up yesterday as he took more than 75 percent of the chips in play into the event’s final day. Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth hatched an idea: if Mizrachi should hold on and win the Main Event, he shouldn’t have to wait until next year. The WSOP should induct him immediately.
WSOP VP Jack Effel was listening, and, accompanied by Hellmuth, as well as the likes of Phil Ivey, Brian Rast, John Hennigan, Eli Elezra, David Oppenheim, and Jen Harman, Mizrachi was instantly made a Hall of Famer, the usual voting process done away with in recognition of his history-shattering achievement.
“That’s amazing. God bless them all…Thank you so much. I feel like it was well deserved. I don’t know, I don’t mind. I could’ve waited until next year. It just motivates me more. Makes me hungrier,” he said.
“I feel like (the Main Event title) was cement. I cemented everything. That’s all I wanted was the Main Event. I did what I had to do in the poker world. Achieved the Hall of Fame. I’m never going to retire, so don’t worry about that. I’ll be back next year for a lot more.”
Day 10 Action
The final four players resumed play at the final table at 2 p.m. local time, with Mizrachi the massive chip leader with 445,500,000. Kenny Hallaert and Braxton Dunaway began as the short stacks, and they didn’t wait around for long until getting their chips in the middle.
On the first hand of the day, Hallaert moved all in for 19,000,000 as action folded around to Mizrachi in the big blind, who snap-called. Hallaert had ace-queen and remained ahead on the flop against Mizrachi’s king-jack, but Mizrachi spiked a jack on the turn to take the lead. Hallaert couldn’t connect on the river and the PokerStars ambassador was sent to the rail in fourth place, two places higher than he finished in his previous final table appearance in 2016.
Mizrachi didn’t slow down, shoving all in the next hand from the small blind as Dunaway called for 23,000,000 in the big blind. Dunaway’s ten-six was dominated by Mizrachi’s ace-ten, and Mizrachi ended up with the nut flush as the Texas oil man and 2023 Monster Stack champion was forced to settle for third place.
That left Mizrachi heads-up against an opponent who couldn’t have been more different. Wasnock, the 50-year-old investment consultant from the Seattle area, came into the Main Event with just over $140,000 in live earnings, according to The Hendon Mob. His biggest career score was for $56,000 earlier this year in a $500 event in Pendleton, Oregon. It was a true David versus Goliath matchup, a burgeoning poker legend against a Cinderella story in the making.
Mizrachi led 491,000,000 to 93,500,000 at the start of heads-up, but the amateur wasn’t going down without a fight. Wasnock made trips on the fourth hand of heads-up and raised out Mizrachi on the turn. He then took three of the next five pots, including raising Mizrachi on the turn once again with a pair of aces as Wasnock climbed back over 100,000,000.
Any glimmer of hope Wasnock may have had, however, was quickly extinguished when Mizrachi made a straight on the river and bet 35,000,000. Wasnock called with a pair of kings as he fell back down to 48,000,000, good for less than 20 big blinds.
Wasnock caught Mizrachi bluffing a few hands later, calling down on the river with a pair of nines, to get some of those chips back until the next hand, the 79th of the final table, 18th of heads-up, and 20th since they returned to play. Wasnock opened to 5,000,000 on the button and Mizrachi defended in the big blind. Both players checked the ace-high flop until Wasnock bet 10,000,000 on the turn. Mizrachi then waved to his rail to begin cheering as he stood up from his seat, pointing up to signify a raise was incoming. He put in 30,000,000 and Wasnock snap-shoved for 70,500,000. Mizrachi called just as quickly.
Wasnock had two pair, aces and nines, but Mizrachi showed ten-three of clubs for a turned flush. Wasnock needed to improve to a full house on the river to prolong the match, but a harmless five fell and Mizrachi’s massive rail, including his three brothers and social media star “Vegas Pauly C,” erupted in celebration.
“All the support behind me, I couldn’t let them down,” Mizrachi said
It was as dominant a performance at the final table as the Main Event has witnessed since at least the poker boom. It shattered the record for fewest hands at the final table over the last 20 years, with the previous record being 2023’s 164 hands. Mizrachi promised at the close of play yesterday to make it quick today and felt like he was on a date with destiny.
“I told you an hour,” Mizrachi said. “I mean, the PPC was pretty good, the last one. Everything went my way. It felt like the same thing in this one, as well. I knew I was destined to win, when I had two blinds, the ace on the river yesterday. Just felt like, after I have 75 percent of the chips today, there was no way.”
The new world champion will have his banner hung inside the Horseshoe Event Center forever. He was already one of the top stars in the game in a career that spans more than two decades. Today, “The Grinder” has become a poker legend.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the 2025 Main Event. Stay tuned for more coverage as the final 2025 WSOP events wrap up today.
